Sukkot Tragedy: Elderly woman dies in apartment fire

86-year-old woman from Or Akiva dies after fire breaks out in her apartment.

David Rosenberg, 06/10/17 07:36

Firefighters (illustration)

Yossi Zamir/Flash 90

An elderly woman from the coastal town of Or Akiva was killed Thursday evening when a fire broke out in her apartment.

Authorities say the 86-year-old woman died of smoke inhalation.

After the fire was reported, MDA emergency first responders were dispatched to the woman’s third-story apartment, where they found lying unconscious.

Paramedics say the woman was in critical condition when they arrived, and was suffering from severe smoke inhalation.

After extensive efforts to resuscitate the woman, MDA emergency first responders were forced to declare her dead at the scene.

“When we got there, the apartment on the third floor was full of smoke,” said MDA paramedics Tzvi Weiss and Anna Igneiyev. “Firefighters entered the apartment and found a woman roughly 86 years old in one of the rooms. She was unconscious, was not breathing, and had no heartbeat after apparently breathing in a great deal of smoke.”

“We provided emergency medical care, and attempted to resuscitate her, but in the end we were forced to declare her death.”